development became a mainstream
global lingo now embedded in
international best practices,
environmentalists were virtually seen as
cranks. They were viewed as deviants,
eccentrics, New Age spawns and radicals
seeking for a niche in human
development; and, maybe, a little space
in the reel to be played tomorrow when
everything today would be history. This
was why they were called "tree
huggers": normal people don't hug
trees, they hug people. Although some
environmentalists are still extreme –
like the extremist eco-group called
Earth First! which went into the woods
of North Carolina in the United States
and were wailing and telling the trees
how they cared about them – but
generally speaking, to be eco-friendly
today is politically correct, and trendy.
In my view, the one prominent political
leader in Nigeria today who seems
evocative of the early years of
environmentalism in all its pristine
roughness is the Governor of Osun
State, Rauf Aregbesola. Starting from
the way he turned protocol of revered
nomenclatures and epithets on their
head, to his revolutionary green projects
which are already embroiled in
dissenting political colorations, he paints
his political pictures in simple eccentric
hues, most times with canvas woven in
native tongues. The interface between
culture and technology in Osun Osun
should no doubt be as interesting to a
New Age philosopher as it would be to
an environmentalist.
Take, for instance, Opon Imo, the
"Tablet of Knowledge". Many people
might not know the potency of this
project in the fight against climate
change. When the debate about the
alleged profligacy of the governor in
instituting the programme was at its
loudest, I studied the arguments
carefully to see anybody who would
raise the specific issue of using Opon
Imo to fight climate change in Nigeria,
but I could not easily find. The nearest
to what I was looking for was when the
governor said that the initiative was
saving N8.2bn that could have been
spent on the purchase of books on an
annual basis, as 56 textbooks on 17
subjects have been converted into soft
copies in the Opon Imo device, including
old question papers and revision
materials stored to enable pupils have a
database of past resources.
This simply means that the project has
not only saved money but has saved
papers. The books that would have been
printed would not be printed anymore.
Then, the trees that would have been
cut down to produce those papers to be
used to print the books would be left
unharmed. Therefore, the trees will be
left in their natural habitats to
sequester carbon – the major cause of
global warming. And by this, Opon Imo
becomes a major artillery in the battle
against climate change. So, maybe the
Osun State Government will now go and
crunch the figures to educate Nigerians
on how many trees will be saved from
destruction as a result of 150,000
tablets preventing the production of
about 142,800,000 books (56 x 17 x
150,000) annually.
Fact is, the paper industry is the third
largest industrial consumer of energy
behind only the chemical and petroleum
refining industries. It is also the fourth
largest industrial emitter of greenhouse
gases (gases causing global warming)
and the third largest industrial user of
water. Then, the pulp and paper
industry is responsible for massive
amounts of toxic waste contaminating
air and water. In addition, when the
papers are used and discarded as waste,
they need to be disposed. According to
the United States Environmental
Protection Agency, paper accounts for
about a third of all waste; and that is at
least 84,000,000 tons a year in the US.
In Lagos State alone, it is about 3,000
tons.
Current trends in sustainable
development dictate that we devise and
implement a paper conservation policy,
and the most prominent in the
recommended strategies is going
electronic to save papers. This means
opting for electronic statements from
our banks, utility providers and other
companies to cut down on paper waste.
Perhaps, Opon Imo has come as the
most definitive symbolic statement of
going green by this method. In addition,
as it concerns technology transfer, it was
reported that the governor admitted
that 50,000 pieces of the device were
imported from China, and that the
remaining 100,000 pieces would be
developed in Nigeria by a company that
has a mobile phone manufacturing plant
in Osun State.
The other programme of note in Osun is
"Igi Iye" tree planting project reported
to take tree planting to over 750,000
primary and secondary school pupils in
the state. The importance of tree
planting can never be overemphasised
as it has been globally acknowledged as
the first defence line against climate
change. But the aspect that makes it
sustainable as adopted by Aregbesola is
in the area of giving it an every day
native parlance as a campaign
catchphrase, and then establishing
nurseries for production of seedlings.
The truth is that many times, tree
planting campaigns are kicked off with
purchased seedlings that most times
cannot adapt to the particular
environment; so immediately after the
crowds disperse and the cameras stop
rolling, the publicised trees wither off
for lack of compatibility to their forced
habitat. By giving tree planting a native
face, Osun is localising adaptation and
mitigation strategies against climate
change.
The Opon Imo and Igi Iye initiatives,
when taken together in a structured
complementary process, are enough to
give Nigeria an edge in REDD.
Deforestation and forest degradation
through agricultural expansion,
conversion to pastureland, infrastructure
development, destructive logging, fires,
etc., account for nearly 20 per cent of
global greenhouse gas emissions, more
than the entire global transport sector
and second only to the energy sector.
Considering that in order to constrain
the impacts of climate change within
limits that society will reasonably be
able to tolerate, i.e. a stabilisation of
earth temperature within two degrees
Celsius, emissions from forest sector
must be incorporated in addition to
other mitigation actions. REDD+ means
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation. It simply
means earning money by keeping a
forest as a carbon sink. It is an effort to
create a financial value for the carbon
stored in forests, offering incentives for
developing countries like ours to reduce
emissions from forested lands and
invest in low-carbon paths to
sustainable development. Cross River
State is already an experimental ground
in REDD; but I believe Osun State has
the underlying vital philosophy that will
push Nigeria into the global REDD+ map.
The other interesting aspect in the
environmental revolution seemingly
going on in Osun is in the proclamation
made recently by the governor that the
state was working on a piece of
legislation which would establish and
reinvigorate the sanitary inspectors. He
said they would be divided across the
state to monitor environmental
sanitation of the people, and then "any
sanitary inspector whose coverage area
is found wanting in general cleanliness,
would be severely punished for
dereliction of duty." This is an
interesting development because of the
universal acceptance in Nigeria that the
sanitary inspectors of yore were
instrumental to the sanity of the country
environment-wise. And I cannot wait to
hear the name the governor will give
these environmental foot soldiers. If he
sticks to the old name of "Wole wole", I
won't be so much thrilled, because
surely I expect yet another eyebrow
raising nomenclature from the stable of
the "Ogbeni"; something to, once again,
burn an environmental idea into the
minds of every Tolu, Dike, and Haruna.
http://www.punchng.com/opinion/aregbesola-and-climate-change/
0 100000:
Post a Comment